Topic: Uranus (Planet)

Why do planets farthest from sun have highest winds? Team closes in on answer

The planets beyond Mars exhibit the highest winds speeds of any other planets in the solar system. It's a puzzle, because less energy from the sun is available there to drive higher winds. 

NASA's Voyager 1 hits a 'magnetic highway' out of the solar system

Scientists at NASA say the unmanned Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached the edges of the solar system. They estimate in a few months to a year Voyager 1 will become the first manmade object to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space.

Do Pluto's moons pose risks for NASA spacecraft? (+video)

Scientists are planning a new route for NASA's New Horizons space probe as it approaches a potentially perilous path toward Pluto. They aim to chart a safe, but interesting course.

Sugar molecules – a building block of life – spotted orbiting star (+video)

Astronomers have spotted molecules of glycolaldehyde, a simple sugar that is one of the ingredients in the formation of RNA, orbiting a star some 400 light years away.

Tatooine-like planet: Astronomers spot pair of planets orbiting twin suns (+video)

Tatooine-like planet: In a cosmic first, astronomers have discovered two alien planets orbiting two stars, not unlike Luke Skywalker's home planet in the Star Wars films.

Voyager 1 to become first man-made object to leave solar system (+video)

Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 is now poised to become the first craft to enter interstellar space.

Obama's NASA budget: Mars takes a hit, but space science isn't dead

Two major Mars missions lost out to the James Web Space Telescope in Obama's proposed NASA budget, but there's still money for other ambitious space-science missions.

Is NASA giving up on Mars? (+video)

NASA's 2013 budget includes deep cuts to its planetary science mission, particularly its efforts to send spacecraft to Mars. Instead, the space agency will focus on human spaceflight and infrared astronomy. Is NASA now heading down the wrong path?

Newfound alien planet 'best candidate to support liquid water'

A planet recently discovered orbiting a nearby star is located in the star's 'habitable zone,' meaning that it could support life as we know it.  

In Pictures Space photos of the day: Uranus

Europa or bust? Maybe not. Top 9 priorities for planetary research missions

The National Research Council has just unveiled planetary scientists' space-mission wish-list for the next 10 years. Tight federal budgets will provide the reality check. Here's a sampler of missions the panel recommends NASA undertake this decade.
03/08/2011 02:55 pm

Cool Astronomy Scientists plan Uranus probe

Proposed by British scientists as a joint effort of NASA and the European Space Agency, the mission would offer the first close-up view of Uranus in 25 years.
01/07/2011 02:41 pm

Voyager 1 nearing edge of solar system: NASA

Voyager 1: Since 2004, the Voyager 1 probe has been exploring a region of space where solar wind slows abruptly and crashes into the thin gas between stars.
12/14/2010 10:01 am

In Pictures Space photos of the day: Atmospheric edition

Should Pluto be restored as a planet? Experts weigh in.

New calculations indicate that Pluto might be the largest object in the outer solar system. Does it now deserve to be called a planet again?
11/22/2010 05:52 pm

Alien planet travels to Milky Way, offers glimpse of Earth's demise

The alien world has already gone through the red giant phase of stellar evolution, a milestone our sun should reach in 5 billion years or so. The fact that the newly discovered exoplanet survived this dramatic event suggests some planets in our solar system might, too.
11/19/2010 02:43 pm

In Pictures Space photos of the day: Gas giants

In Pictures Space photos of the day: Voyager

In Pictures Space photos of the day: Heavenly Rings

In Pictures Space photos of the day 09/03

In Pictures Space photos of the day 08/30

Cool Astronomy Newfound star system could have seven planets

At least five and possibly seven planets are circling the star HD 10180, some 127 light-years away.
08/24/2010 09:34 pm

Neptune nears completing its first orbit since its 1846 discovery

Neptune has come almost full circle since it was first discovered in 1846, and on Aug. 20, it will be in a straight line with the sun and the Earth.
08/19/2010 07:37 pm

Rare failed star found circling sun-like star

The newfound failed star, known as a brown dwarf, has been dubbed PZ Tel B. It is separated from its sun-like companion star, PZ Tel A, by a distance similar to that between Uranus and the sun in our solar system.
07/30/2010 04:39 pm

In Pictures Space photos of the day 07/01